A Review of Family Planning Methods Used in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective To review the acceptance pattern and the influence of age and parity on the choice of Family Planning Methods at the Family Planning Clinic, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, Nigeria.
Method All records of the clients that attended the Family Planning Clinic from January 2003 to December 2007 were analyzed Results New clients were 22% while revisits were 78%, with a steady increase in the number of new clients from 4% in 2003 to 26% in 2007. Injectable contraceptives were the most commonly used (40.63%), followed by the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) (34.53%). Most women of low parity used the injectable contraceptive method (36.2%) and oral contraceptive pills (30.7%), while those in the early reproductive age group (37.1%) used oral contraceptive pills and injectable contraceptive method (32.5%) than any other method. Women of high parity (47.1%) and those in the late reproductive age group (51.2%) used injectable contraceptives more, followed by IUCD (43.0% and 46.1% respectively). There was very low acceptance of Implants (0.54%) and voluntary surgical contraception (0.36%). Majority of the clients (67.5%) were informed about voluntary family planning by Health workers.
Conclusion There is an increasing trend in the yearly number of new clients in our centre. Contraceptive methods that do involve surgery or the exposure of the women were preferred, and these should be promoted in a conservative society like ours. The influence of husbands, community and religious leaders and female education are important, if the acceptance of voluntary family planning is to increase in societies like ours, where women marry early and are not socioeconomically empowered. Efforts should be made to step up campaign for voluntary surgical contraception, especially among women who have completed their families, as its utilization is very low in our community.
Keywords: Voluntary family planning methods, age, parity, acceptance, Kano.